


Ed Moon Rising

by NintendoGal55



Category: Ed Edd n Eddy
Genre: Children's Horror, Comedy, Ed is tripping out like on Boo-Haw-Haw, F/M, Hints of EdMay - Freeform, Hints of EddEddy - Freeform, Imagination, M/M, Mention of Slender man, Moon, Post-BPS, Post-Big Picture Show, Winnie-the-Pooh References, imagination gone wild
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-20
Updated: 2020-01-20
Packaged: 2021-02-19 06:15:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,380
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22339741
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NintendoGal55/pseuds/NintendoGal55
Summary: Based on the episode "Pooh Moon" from the cartoon "The New Adventures of Winnie The Pooh". The Eds and May Kanker are camping out for the night, but when a mishap sends Ed and May flying from the camp, it leads to them believing they're on the moon. Edd and Eddy now have to search for their friends in the dark woods, where nothing seems to go right for any of them!
Relationships: Ed/May Kanker
Kudos: 10





	Ed Moon Rising

**Author's Note:**

> Hi everyone! This has been an idea I've had for quite some time and now it's finally come together! I love "The New Adventures of Winnie The Pooh" and of course "Pooh Moon" is one of my favourites! As the summary describes, this is a bit of a loose adaptation of that episode! With twists and turns in some areas.
> 
> I also commissioned my friend Kevin Lordi to create some art for this story! He did an AMAZING job with both versions of the image I had in mind, and just went above and beyond! So be sure to visit him on Patreon, Tumblr, deviantART, Twitter, and YouTube for his stuff! He's an incredibly talented artist and animator, so be sure to give him some love!  
> Here's the artwork! https://twitter.com/KevinLsAccount/status/1189961564671098881
> 
> https://www.patreon.com/KevinLordi/posts  
> https://lynyrdsquidward.tumblr.com/  
> https://twitter.com/KevinLsAccount  
> https://www.youtube.com/user/KevinLsAccount/videos
> 
> And of course, because it's me, of COURSE there's hints of EdMay and EddEddy too. :P Since it's Post-BPS, it's a little on the down-low, but getting there. ;) 
> 
> Enjoy, you guys!

* * *

Camping out was, especially by now, nothing new. Even sleeping under the stars wasn’t exactly new, but at least this time it was planned and not forced upon them. As well as that, they were in the woods not at all far from the cul-de-sac. Everything about this little camping excursion was carefully planned and executed with the intent of enjoying a warm summer night under the stars. A step outside of their backyards, but not too far away.

Even if there was one little element neither of them had planned on. 

This was in the form of May Kanker, who happily sat on the ground near Ed upon her sleeping bag, holding a stuffed teddy bear in her lap. All while Ed was munching on some strayed popcorn that had flown in his direction and holding a comic book in his lap. Both of them looked a little bit spaced at times, but were otherwise all smiles and excitement.

Even if Edd and Eddy continued having their reservations about Ed’s budding friendship with May. It started shortly after their return from the incredible journey to find Eddy’s brother. Then just grew more and more as the days went on, with Ed having used to sneak around just to go and see her before being caught by his friends one time.

Now here they were in yet another attempt to meld both sides together. The first time the four of them would be spending an entire night around each other. 

At the moment, Eddy was holding a fire-resistant basket with a handle attached that was filled with corn kernels. Some of them were already popped as he held it over the campfire, trying to get it closer. Edd, as per usual, looked on with apprehension.

“Oh dear… Eddy please be careful! You’re holding it too close to the heat and I think you put in too many kernels!” Edd couldn’t help fretting.

“Quit gettin’ your hat in a knot, Sockhead! Don’t worry about it,” Eddy waved it off, “It’s gonna be fine!”

As Eddy brought the kernel basket closer to the fire pit, that was around when so many of the kernels along the bottom popped simultaneously. Then followed by more popping. And more. And more-you get the idea. All of the popcorn within it practically exploded everywhere! Ed and May jumped with a start with the latter trying to avoid getting rained on while the former happily dove for a large pile that formed around their little impromptu campsite.

“Whoops…” Eddy said with a cringe, brushing some popcorn off his head.

Sighing heavily, Edd shook his hat of any stray popcorn before putting it back on, “I told you that there were far too many kernels in there! We should have lessened the load by at least half.”

Eddy pouted and gave a grumble, “Sorry, jeez. Figured it wasn’t _that_ much.”

“That’s okay, Double D! You just grew too much pop in your corn!” Ed said cheerfully as he scooped up a handful of popcorn into his mouth.

May was munching on a couple of pieces, looking pretty pleased while doing so, “They’re good, just missing butter!”

“Ah, but freshly popped popcorn without butter is much healthier,” Edd stated as he plucked a stray popcorn off his pajamas.

Eating some more, Ed looked up to the mildly starry sky, and over at the full moon. He sat back along his sleeping bag comfortably and saw May doing the same with hers, which was set up next to his.

“You were right, Big Ed! It’s a full moon tonight,” May remarked as she followed his gaze while brushing her hair.

“Yup!” Ed replied gleefully, “It’s just not as big as it was in _Invasion of the Moon Monsters 2!_ ”

“Don’t forget about _Vampire Blood Moon!_ ” May snickered.

“Or how about _Space Invaders Conquer The Moon_?”

“No wait! We can’t forget _Martians On The Moon!_ ”

“Don’t forget _Lunar Cycle Roundabout!_ ”

“It was good, but I really wanted to see _Space Honeymoon_!” May exclaimed, but then deflated with a pout, “Then we found out it was rated R!”

“I want to see it too!” Ed sighed sadly in agreement, “But by the time it comes out on TV, all the good stuff will be cut out!”

“It’s not fair…” May sighed, looking back up at the moon.

Finally getting stray popcorn off his own pajamas, Eddy turned over toward Edd, “Don’t tell me they were watchin’ space movies all day.”

“I’m afraid they were, Eddy,” Edd sighed as he reached for something in his backpack. 

“Great, are they gonna get… ya know, wild and crazy?” Eddy looked toward their friends with uncertainty.

Following his gaze, Edd shook his head as he pulled something out of his bag, “I certainly hope not. But at least we’re going to bed, so hopefully it won’t allow for such behaviour.”

The object in his hand was something all folded up and yellow. When he tugged a pull string, the item expanded and exploded right before their eyes! It landed on the ground, turning out to be an inflatable mattress! Equipped with bedsheets and a blanket, no less!

Eddy’s eyes went wide and his jaw dropped, while Edd stood by with a very proud smile. He then got onto it, making himself comfortable and getting under the blanket, sighing happily.

“What do you think? I made and equipped it especially for camping,” Edd beamed, “Whether in a tent or outdoors! Well protected from puncture, repellent to unwanted rodents or insects, air quality lasting up to seventy-two hours, hypoallergenic and perfectly adaptable to many weather conditions! As well as that, very comfortable.”

“You brought a freaking air mattress?!” Eddy finally exclaimed, looking between Edd and the mattress. “That’s way unfair, Sockhead!”

“I decided to come prepared, unlike _some_ of us,” Edd teased with a giggle. “I made sure to have provisions so as to ensure I would feel comfortable sleeping under the stars after what happened previously.”

“So ya brought a freaking bed and made sure we’d all sleep on the ground?”

“Only because neither of you considered such a possibility. However, if you’d like to share it with me, all you need to do is ask nicely...”

Eddy of course pouted quite a bit, but looked between Edd, the mattress, and his own sleeping bag a few times. He finally met Edd’s teasing smirk yet again and felt his cheeks warm up slightly. 

“Fiiiiine, only ‘cause you’re offerin’ and I don’t wanna sleep in the dirt,” Eddy sighed, rolling his eyes. He straightened himself out, putting his hands on the mattress to prop himself higher, “Can I sleep on your mattress with ya, _please_?”

“Hmm…. I’m not certain, I’d need to mull that over,” Edd pretended to think, then gave a light laugh. “Yes, you can share the mattress with me, Eddy.”

This made Eddy grin widely, then he grabbed his pillow and brought it along while Edd scooted over to make some room. They settled on the mattress together, getting cozied up under the blankets and adjusting their respective pillows.

“Are you comfortable?” Edd purred, giving a giggle.

“I sure as heck am now,” Eddy smiled, winking at him. “This thing’s pretty sweet!”

“It certainly is, isn’t it?” Edd winked in return, and rolled onto his back.

Still eating popcorn, May then lay back on her sleeping bag and stared up at the moon. She exhaled, then looked over at Ed, “If they call it a honeymoon, does that mean the moon made of honey?”

“I thought it was made of cheese! But then they would they call it a moon?” Ed wondered, having been looking up before turning to look at her, “Shouldn’t it be a cheese ball?”

“Or moon cheese?” May shrugged, looking back up to the moon, “It’d be great if we could go there and see for ourselves! Just like in _Space Honeymoon_.”

Ed smiled at the prospect, “It would be amazing! And delicious, if we can find all that moon cheese and honey!”

“Careful Big Ed, you’re gonna make me hungrier,” May giggled, eating another popcorn. “It’s just too bad it’s so far away!”

A pout formed at Ed’s lips, but he nodded,“It really is too high up. We’d have to stay up late to get there!”

May sighed a little, then scooted closer to Ed, who looked at her and smiled. She wrapped an arm around his, which he didn’t protest. Their eyes met and lingered for a few moments, while she gently ran the fingers of her free hand on his arm, and he in turn placed his hand over hers.

“You got any scary stories?” May asked then, giggling.

“Yup!” Ed grinned widely, “I have a perfect scary story!”

From the mattress, Edd and Eddy sat up as they overheard Ed’s proclamation. Eddy of course was excited and curious about the possible story, whereas Edd was apprehensive, but was nonetheless attentive.

“Gather ‘round, everyone!” Ed declared with a grin as he and May sat up on their sleeping bags. “This is the story of the Slender Man!”

“The Slender Man?” Eddy repeated, looking at him incredulously, “Who’s scared of some skinny guy runnin’ around? That doesn’t sound very scary.”

“Isn’t that what you said about _Jurassic Park_ before we watched it, Eddy?” Edd teased with a giggle.

“Hey, it sounded like a movie about a freaking amusement park with fake dinosaurs!” Eddy pouted, folding his arms over his chest. 

“Those guys in the movie were cool, but I loved the dinosaurs!” Ed grinned, bouncing a little bit in place. He blinked, paused, and looked up to the sky, “What were we talking about?”

May piped up, “The Slender Man!”

“Right!” Ed cleared his throat and sat up straight. “Once upon a time, there was a creature known to most as the Slender Man. They say he mostly goes after children, but grownups can be his victims too! He looks like a man, dressed in a suit with a tie, and is so very tall!”

“A horror creature dressed in such a dapper manner? Intriguing,” Edd remarked.

“That’s just weird!” Eddy said, grimacing. “What kinda monster goes around wearin’ a suit? What, he’s got his other clothes in the wash or something?”

“Oh, so Freddy Krueger wearing a red and green sweater is perfectly normal?” Edd teased with a giggle.

Eddy rolled his eyes at that, “Newsflash, he died in that outfit, Double D! I told ya that before!”

“Indeed he did, but he also possesses the ability to shape the dreamworld, and himself, however he sees fit. So why in the world would he remain in the same clothing that he himself died in?” Edd questioned.

“Never mind, we’ll talk about it later!” Eddy griped.

Ed cleared his throat loudly and continued like nothing had happened. “But the problem with the Slender Man is that he has no face!”

“Wait, whaddya mean he has no face? Why do they call him the Slender Man if he’s got no face? Why isn’t he the Faceless Man or even the whole Man Without A Face?” Eddy gripped, looking all the more weirded out and confused.

“Wasn’t that a movie?” May asked as she raised an eyebrow and scratched her head.

“Yep! But the Slender Man has no face at all,” Ed continued, seemingly undeterred by the interruptions. He waved his hands around for spooky emphasis, “But you always feel like he’s watching you! Always watching!”

“How can he be watching you if he doesn’t have any eyes?” Eddy wanted to know, snorting at such a thought. “Sounds more like those weird giant worms from _Tremors_ or something! Guess he gets his victims if he can hear them!”

“He might not have eyes, but he can see you!” Ed proclaimed, wiggling his fingers. “He will stalk you and stalk you until he can take you away! Nobody knows what he does to his victims or where he takes them! Some say he turns you into his minion! Ooh! But others will say he kills you! But he will follow you everywhere you go! You can’t run or hide from the Slender Man! He’ll always find you! And he’s always watching! Always watching! Sometimes he has arms that look like tentacles!”

Edd adjusted his hat, looking pensive, “Well… this is certainly an interesting horror creature, I suppose.”

“Still ain’t that scary! So he’s tall, skinny, wears a suit, doesn’t have a face, stalks you and apparently teleports,” Eddy summed up, then rolled his eyes, “I’ve seen scarier monsters on preschool cartoons!”

“He sounds creepy!” May chimed in, giving a shrug, “I’d be pretty scared if I saw that!”

Completely undeterred, Ed just smiled and lay back on his sleeping bag, “Guess that’s why he’s called the Slender Man instead of the Grab Me Gotcha Man!”

“What, does that guy just grab you and say ‘Gotcha!’?” Eddy deadpanned.

“How did you know?!” Ed asked with a grin.

Eddy scoffed, shaking his head. “I dunno, lucky guess.”

“Well then, gentlemen and lady, shall we turn in?” Edd suggested, stretching his arms before laying back down.

“Sure, but I ain’t gonna have nightmares over a freaking suit-wearin’ faceless man!” Eddy muttered, rolling his eyes as he settled under the covers once again. “Nice try, Ed!”

“Whatever you say, Eddy!” Ed responded cheerfully.

May yawned, then lay back down as well, cuddling her teddy bear. She rolled over onto her side to face Ed, who turned his head to smile at her.

“What do you think you’ll dream about, Big Ed?” May asked.

Ed thought for a few moments before giggling, “I bet it will be about gravy, buttered toast, aliens ... and maybe some molasses!”

“Aw, you forgot about the flying!” May laughed, poking his arm.

“I did? Uh-oh, can’t forget about the flying!” Ed slapped his forehead in a facepalm fashion. He then reached over and ruffled May’s hair, which made her giggle. “Goodnight, May!”

“Sweet dreams, Ed,” May yawned as she settled in, closing her eyes.

“Goodnight Mommy and Daddy!” Ed winked at his friends.

“Real funny, Ed.” Eddy muttered, rolling his eyes. "Night."

“Goodnight, Ed and May,” Edd murmured as he looked over at Eddy, “Goodnight, Eddy.”

“Night, Sockhead." Eddy yawned, then rolled over onto his other side.

* * *

Pretty soon, all four of them were asleep and nestled in for the night. Some time went by, but no one would know how long. The bag of popcorn kernels was situated next to the heated fire pit, which was still relatively active. Aside from the usual sounds of the night all around, there came a new sound.

A popping noise.

The sound reached Ed’s ears. He stirred, just barely waking up, his brain attempting to register what it could be. It only took a second, but his mind was, even as he woke, shutting down. Quickly he sat up, stared straight ahead at nothing, unblinking. He could swear he saw something, a shadow, moving in the woods.

It was gone moments after.

But the popping sound kept happening. It was periodic, repetitive, and close by.

Without even turning his head, Ed reached down and gently shook May’s shoulder. She stirred and groaned, groggily opening her eyes and sitting up.

“Mariiieeee I didn’t take your shirt, I told you…” May whined sleepily, rubbing her eyes.

“Shh!” Ed hissed.

A little more awake, her eyes just as glazed and distant as Ed’s were, May mumbled, “What’s going on?”

“Do you hear it?”

“Hear what?”

“Shh!”

Quieting down, they and listened. The popping sound continued. Was it getting louder somehow? The popping was growing rapid, less periodic, but louder? That was hard to tell. All that could be said was that it was still close by. Or getting closer?

“I hear it, too!” May uttered, blinking her tired eyes a few times. “What is it?”

“I don’t know! I think something’s out there…” Ed replied, reaching around and grabbing for a flashlight he kept nearby. It had been used earlier for the two of them to read comic books together when the fire’s light wasn’t adequate or correctly angled.

“Oh no,” May reached around and grabbed the nearest solid object from her bag. It turned out to be her hairbrush. She held it tightly like a weapon. “What is it, Big Ed? What’s out there? Is it a bear?”

Ed shook his head, “No bear! But it might be something bigger!”

“Like the slimy moon aliens from _Space Honeymoon_?” May gulped.

“Or worse! We have to find it before Eddy and Double D wake up!” Ed bit his lip, looking around the area nervously. Nothing but trees and shadows.

“But where’s it coming from? All it’s doing is making popping sounds!” May hissed, looking all around them as well.

“What if it’s an alien that lures earthlings in with its popping?” Ed looked around again.

“Or what if it’s… the Slender Man?” May looked off into the trees and shuddered.

Ed shook his head, “I don’t think the Slender Man makes noise…”

They carefully tiptoed around their camp, as if afraid they would step on something, and then huddled near the fire pit. The popping noise continued, now louder, and made them freeze. Ed and May looked at each other, dead silent, chests heaving and eyes wide. 

A piece of popcorn went flying past their faces.

When they looked down, another piece of popcorn came into view from the bag of corn kernels, and they realized exactly what the sound had been. Looking back at each other, they smiled and laughed with relief. To think they’d been scared over some popcorn!

“It was just the popcorn!” May exclaimed, giggling.

“Oopsie!” Ed shook his head and smiled wider. “We should’ve known!”

As they bent down to pick up the bag and move it, May nearly tripped and the bag was briefly brought too close to the pit as Ed tried to steady them. The corn and kernels came too close to the heat, what followed was a _much_ louder set of popping, and the bag getting bigger. In a panic, they reached into the bag to try to push the popcorn and kernels back in, but they just kept popping.

Like an explosion, the bag filled to the brim and all the popcorn practically _flew_ out! It sent Ed and May catapulting into the air, to which they cried out and grabbed onto each other as they went flying.

There was no telling how far they went, how high they went, it seemed to be happening so fast. It wasn’t long, however, before they saw a reflective surface coming their way with the moon shining upon it.

“Hang on, May! We’re going to the moon!” Ed yelled out.

“The moon?!” May repeated, wide-eyed.

And they disappeared into the water, piercing right through the reflection of the moon. All moments before a dark cloud flew in and concealed the reflection.

* * *

Woken from the commotion, Edd and Eddy sat up on the air mattress and looked around. The entire camp was a mess of popcorn strewn _everywhere_. But even more noticeable was that Ed nor May were anywhere in sight, their sleeping bags completely abandoned. The two remaining Eds looked at each other, faces marred with confusion.

“You uh, didn’t see where they went, did ya?” Eddy finally asked.

“If I did, I would be urging for us to follow their trail,” Edd responded with a sigh. He got off the mattress and slipped his shoes on. “Goodness gracious, they must not have been able to sleep and decided to go searching for a fictitious creature!”

“Or maybe Slendy came around and nabbed ‘em!” Eddy joked, laughing as he got off the mattress as well. “Relax Sockhead, it’s like ya said, they musta wanted to go exploring!”

“Were it not Ed and May, I wouldn’t be nearly as concerned, Eddy!” Edd exclaimed with exasperation. He opened his bag and searched it for a flashlight. “We may very well have to go and find them.”

“Seriously?” Eddy groaned, rolling his eyes, “C’mon Double D, it’s late! Can’t we just sleep it off and go look for ‘em in the morning?”

“No, something could possibly happen to them!” Edd scolded. “I’d like very much to go back to sleep as well-” He cut himself off to yawn, “but we have to find them first.”

Eddy grumbled under his breath as he pulled on his shoes too. “Great. Just great! They just _had_ to get all overloaded on horror movies and now they’re off lookin’ for the Slender Man! We should’ve tied ‘em down or something!”

“I don’t like this any better than you do, Eddy. But we can’t simply just sit around and do nothing about it!” Edd looked around the camp, at the popcorn strewn everywhere and let out a huff of disgust. “For goodness’ sake, they made a colossal mess of the popcorn! We should never have brought popcorn, let alone so much of it! But no, oh no, you three just _had_ to talk me into it! ‘It’ll be great, Sockhead!’ you said. ‘Oh but Double D, popcorn is so good!’ he said. We are never doing this again, I’ll have you know!”

“Yeesh, they call it trial and error, would ya calm down?” Eddy sighed, going over to him and surveying the camp as well.

“My word, it’s going to take forever to clean this up! We’ll surely be attracting far too many insects at this rate!” Edd muttered, not paying much attention. 

“Hey Mr. Clean, would ya give it a rest for a second!” Eddy shouted, jabbing Edd’s side with his finger. “Ed’s flashlight’s gone…” 

“At least he had the wherewithal to bring that with him,” Edd remarked with relief.

Eddy noted went over to Ed’s bag and checked the inside. He scrunched up his face and blocked his nose. “Jeez! What’s he got in there, last year’s lunch?!”

“Neither of May’s belongings are missing…” Edd shined his flashlight around May’s items, “Hold on, didn’t she also have a hairbrush?”

“Heck if I remember! She might’ve, she’s a girl!” Eddy remarked, getting away from Ed’s pungent bag. “So what, they just got outta bed and left? Seems like ‘em, I guess.”

Edd sighed heavily, shining the flashlight around the area, “Their lack of proper footwear also means they haven’t left a trail for us to follow!”

“I dunno, maybe Ed had to take a leak,” Eddy guessed.

Edd made a face, shuddering slightly, “But then why would May accompany him?”

“She had to go too?” Eddy gave a shrug. “I dunno, what if they were just sleepwalking?”

“At the same time? With the notion to bring along his flashlight and her hairbrush?” Sighing, Edd surveyed the area around them, finding no signs of their friends still. “Oh dear… with no sign of where they’d gone, no trail to follow, we’re going to be searching all night.”

“UGH, course we are,” Eddy grumbled, kicking aside some popcorn.

* * *

Over in the lake, Ed and May had since gotten out of the water. They were soaking wet and covered in mud, with most of it being on their legs and part way up their sleeves, with splatters on various parts of their person. May also had a giant lily pad draped on her head like a soggy, limp hat. Ed had more mud piled onto his head, also like a funky hat, with a sprouting leaf dangling out from the top.

The two of them had emerged from the lake, holding each other’s hands, and looking around nervously. May held her brush tightly, as if it would help protect her. Ed tried out his flashlight, which thankfully still worked, and gulped. All around them, things were looking really strange. Unfamiliar. It felt as if their vision had kicked into overdrive. Ed could remember feeling this way last Halloween, even. So may stimulants. So many visions. 

“W-Where are we, Ed?” May finally asked, her voice quivering slightly.

Ed looked around them, blinking his eyes a few times. The sky was a sickly yellow, the ground all around them was solid rock, dead trees, often with gnarled branches and thorns rose in some areas, and there were craters. A lot of craters. Behind them was a body of water, but it now looked far too dangerous to approach. May gasped as something seemed to have moved, but it was just a rock she’d kicked aside with her foot.

Even more frighteningly, they caught sight of skulls and bones littered around. Human skulls. Whatever that meant, neither were sure they wanted to know.

The moon was not what he’d thought it would be based on the movies. It had always been grey, rocky ground, full of craters and with an endless black sky of stars. No trees, no discernable features, nothing. But this was not all the way movies depicted the moon. It made sense, though, right? Things could have changed since 1969. Maybe they had landed on a different area of the moon back then. It was a huge rock and there was no way they could have covered that much ground during that mission.

That was it. They were probably on a different area of the moon and during a different weather pattern.

“I was right, we made it to the moon!” Ed proclaimed, releasing a breath.

Eyes glazing over as well, May looked about, suddenly feeling very exposed on this strange place. She looked at Ed, realizing he could see it too. 

“Whoa, so if we’re on the moon, what do we do? It’s gonna fade away in the morning!” May exclaimed worriedly.

“Don’t worry May, we will go and find all of that moon honey before dawn!” Ed assured her, then looked toward the path ahead of them. He gulped nervously and clutched the flashlight tightly.

“Or moon cheese!” May added, stepping a little closer toward Ed. 

They looked down at the ground, to which Ed leaned down and took off a piece of the moon’s surface. He inspected it, smelt it, and then popped it into his mouth. A few thoughtful chews left him feeling confused. 

“It tastes like grass and mud!” Ed reported, smacking his lips. “No cheese!”

“Aw man, cartoons lied to us!” May exclaimed sadly with a groan, “C’mon Big Ed, we better go find the moon honey! I hope it’ll taste good!”

“Sounds good to me! Let’s go, May! Hopefully we will not see any moon monsters...” Ed gulped and started to trek forward.

May did as well, hairbrush in on hand, her other one safely held by Ed’s. “Won’t that jinx it?”

“I hope not…” Ed murmured.

* * *

“Ed! Ed! Ed! Where are ya?!” Eddy shouted into the woods. “ED!”

“Ed! May! May! Ed! EDWARD!” Edd shouted as well, then sighed heavily. “There isn’t any sign of them! I was certain they couldn’t have gone too far, but now I’m starting to believe that they have!”

“You know how fast Ed can get, they could be all the way back at the cul-de-sac by now!” Eddy ranted, rolling his eyes.

“Defeating the entire purpose of camping!” Edd groaned and shined his flashlight around. “When we find them, I am going to give them a piece of my mind!”

“I’ll second ya on that.” Eddy replied, looking all around them. He then stopped walking and tensed. “Stop!”

“Eddy, what is it?” Edd asked, looking at him and stopping in his tracks. “Did you find any-”

“Shh!” Eddy hissed as he grabbed Edd’s flashlight and shut it off.

“Don’t you shush me, that’s rude! And why are you turning off-”

“No, seriously! Shh!”

Before Edd could ask further, Eddy grabbed him by the arm and pulled him down behind a nearby bush. Looking at him oddly, Edd mouthed what was wrong, and Eddy held a finger to his lips. He held his free hand to his ear, to which Edd understood and listened.

Footsteps. Okay, it was slightly unsettling to hear footsteps in the middle of the forest at night time, but what if it was Ed and May? Edd turned to Eddy, mouthing this possibility. Eddy shook his head, looking at him with fear. 

That was when Edd could hear something else. Voices. Had this been what alarmed Eddy? He kept listening, catching them to be girls’ voices. Tensing, Edd swallowed quietly and crept a bit closer to the bushes so he could hear better. He created a tiny opening within the leaves and peered out. The forest wasn’t very dark, even for nighttime, and the moon had come back out from behind some clouds.

The voices were coming closer and closer. He felt Eddy grab hold of him and tense, even tremble a little. Edd was about to ask what was wrong, but then he had the answer.

“Whaddya think? We find her and rat her out to Ma?” 

“Oh come on, where’s the fun in that? We should make it more interesting!”

Edd and Eddy’s gazes met as they then clung to each other , their expressions horrified. As the voices grew closer their grips on each other tightened.

‘ _Kankers?!’_ Edd mouthed.

‘ _I heard ‘em! That’s why we gotta hide!'_ Eddy mouthed back.

“Well, we better think o’ somethin’! It’s gettin’ kinda chilly.”

“Don’t we always?”

The boys peered through the opening, watching as Lee and Marie Kanker, both donning pajamas, wandered about the area. Lee was holding a flashlight and shining it around, while Marie followed closely beside her.

“I still dunno what she was thinkin’, going out camping with all our boyfriends? And not invitin’ us?” Lee griped, shaking her head.

Marie rolled her eyes, “Apparently they wouldn’t have let us come! I mean seriously, how dumb is that?”

“You’re tellin’ me.” Lee stopped, shone the flashlight around, and groaned. “Great, can’t find a darn lead. She could’ve drawn us a map or somethin’ like that.”

“Good luck with _that_ , she’d have better luck drawing a map to our Dad’s place!” Marie said sarcastically. She looked around as well, then down at the ground, “Looks like they didn’t even leave footprints! How are we supposed to find them?”

“You can’t even pick up May’s stink? Or Ed’s for that matter?” Lee scoffed.

“Uh, do you have a _brain_ under all that hair?” Marie gave her a look. “ _No_ , I can’t, because guess what? I’m not a dog!”

“Yeesh, I was just askin’!” Lee stepped forward and shone her flashlight around. She even lifted up her bangs to see better. “I got nothin’. Maybe we oughta go near the creek.”

“Guess that’ll be as good a place as any to start.” Marie agreed with a mild shrug. “You think they’re sleeping?”

“Nah, couldn’t be. They must be tellin’ a bunch of ghost stories around a fire.” Lee said as she stepped toward the trees ahead of them. 

“Heh, if they are, that’ll be a good opportunity to get the drop on them!” Marie giggled at the thought. “I can already see Double D’s look of pure terror!”

“If I know Eddy, he’s gonna be squirmin’ like a worm on a hook!” Lee grinned, “C’mon, the creek’s down that way.”

The sisters walked off into the woods, giggling and discussing their plans. Once they were well out of earshot, Edd and Eddy sighed with relief. They looked at each other, managing to finally relax themselves.

“That was close!” Edd remarked, wiping across his forehead. “It’s a good thing you warned me.”

“Otherwise we would’ve been Kanker Chow!” Eddy said, giving Edd’s back a gentle pat before releasing him. He looked around them, pondering. “We’re gonna have to make sure we’re way more sneaky if we gotta get past the Kankers!”

“I agree. Perhaps we should stick to the shadows, move quietly, and perhaps only use our flashlight if absolutely necessary. That way, we can-” Edd stopped short as dirt was suddenly thrown onto him. Eyes widening in shock, he made a move to brush it off in disgust. “Eddy! What in the world are you doing?!”

Eddy was now kneeling next to a hole that had long since been filled with water and was using the wet dirt to spread on himself. “We gotta camouflage ourselves, Double D! That’s how we’re gonna sneak around the Kankers! They won’t see us if we’re covered up!”

“That’s ridiculous and disgusting!” Edd grimaced. “You can’t possibly think this would work!”

“Course it will! Don’t ya remember in that one movie where Arnold Schwarzenegger had to cover himself in all that mud so that weird alien wouldn’t find him? It’d be kinda like that!” Eddy insisted, spreading more dirt onto himself. “C’mon, Sockhead! It’s fine! Mom says she gets all muddy when she goes with my aunts to that spa!”

“Eddy, that’s completely different from the dirt right here as it often consists of clays and other minerals!” Edd turned away in disgust. A splat of dirt was thrown onto him, making him flinch. “Stop that!”

“It’s gonna look weird and suspicious if we’re walkin’ around and you don’t have dirt on ya!” Eddy said, spreading some onto his friend’s legs. “Relax, we can take baths later and do laundry at your place, no big deal!”

“I’ll have you know that this is all kinds of unsanitary, disgusting, unnecessary and absolutely horrendous! I can only imaging the microorganisms, germs, and absolute _filth_ within all of this dirt!” Edd half-shouted. He trembled and tried to look for any kind of source of water to clean himself. “Eddy please, I can’t walk around covered in dirt!”

“You walked around in sewage once, you’ll be fine!”

“I was wearing a protective suit!”

“But the smell was way worse than this!”

“That isn’t the point!”

Eddy rolled his eyes and flung more dirt onto him, “Look, do ya want the Kankers to catch us?! We gotta find Ed and May before they do! And we’re not gonna be able to unless they can’t see us! We ain’t exactly in the wilderness, ya know!”

Although Edd wanted to argue, he couldn’t. The last thing he wanted was for Lee and Marie to catch wind of them and mess everything up. Especially given that they couldn’t find Ed nor May. He exhaled, but his body tingled with immense discomfort at the thought of being covered in dirt to that degree. 

“ _Fine_! Fine, you do have a point!” Edd groaned, crawling over. “At least let me apply it on my own terms, then.”

“Picky picky picky,” Eddy teased with Edd’s language tic, elbowing him slightly and laughing.

“Very funny.” Edd scooped up some dirt in his hands and then threw it at Eddy, which splattered on his chest and face.

“Hey!” Eddy frowned and then threw some dirt right back. “A smart guy, huh?”

“Only when you’re around, Eddy.” Edd purred, winking at him.

This of course only engaged them further into a mud fight, earning some laughs and grumbles, but at least they were getting covered up. All while keeping their eyes and ears peeled for any Ed and May, or worse still, the Kankers.

* * *

“Yoohoo! Moon honey! Where are you?” Ed called out in a sing-song voice. “Hello! We come in peace and just want some of your yummy moon honey!”

“I don’t think calling for it’s gonna help, Big Ed…” May murmured anxiously, looking all around them. “How do we even find moon honey?”

“We might have to find some moon honeycombs!” Ed said thoughtfully, shining the flashlight around. He gulped as he saw something move not too far off. “Maybe there are some in those craters!”

“Hey, are those… more moon trees?” May asked, pointing ahead of them. “I didn’t know that the moon had trees before now!”

“That is what they want you to believe!” Ed explained as they walked further ahead. “There is a lot on the moon that we didn’t see! Ooh! It’s like a desert!”

“Oh, I get it! Back when those astronauts came here, they landed where it was all Moon Desert!” May said with realization. She laughed and lowered her hairbrush, a little relieved. “But did they talk about any Moon monsters?”

“Nope! I bet they didn’t want to scare anybody!” Ed proclaimed, “But they might be friendly!”

“I don’t know, Ed…” May squeezed Ed’s hand a little tighter. “What if they’re mean and try to kill us like did in the _Invasion of the Moon Monsters_ movies? Those guys were scary!”

“Oh no…” Ed realized and bit his lip. “Bunny, if we find Moon honey, there’s going to be Moon bees!”

“Moon bees?! I bet they’re really big!” May looked around them frantically. “How are we going to get past them? I don’t think tying a balloon around ourselves and floating up to the Moon tree pretending to be a storm cloud will help!”

“We will have to find a way to get past them!” Ed gulped a little and squeezed May’s hand, “We’ll find a way!”

They continued walking along the path, taking in their surroundings and listening for anything. Surprisingly enough, the moon was fairly quiet. Aside from their own footsteps and occasional rustle of trees, there wasn’t much to hear. Even with the yellowed out sky (this was still confusing, what happened to space?) and ominous shapes around.

At least until the sound of bushes rustling close by. Ed and May froze, watching as a bush near them, which had grey leaves. It didn’t rustle violently, but there was definitely movement coming from behind it. Or within it.

They looked at each other, then Ed shone his flashlight toward the blush, illuminating it. There was a strange sound that came from it, causing the two of them to step back. May even pointed her hairbrush forward like a makeshift weapon, trembling.

A figure rose from behind the bush, followed by a second one. It was hard to make them out at first. Ed focused hard, his imagination completely taking over, and came to realize just what they were looking at. There stood a tall, beady-eyed bee creature with a long body, a bulbous head, and dark spots rather than stripes. It sprouted the weirdest-shaped wings, but were wings nonetheless. A long, thick proboscis slithered out of its mouth, flicking about.

Next to it was a shorter creature that sprouted fangs, had _three_ eyes, and an elongated mouth of some sort. Its body was a dark brown-ish black with weird light patches around its _three_ eyes. Three eyes! All of which were glowing red. It had long, sharp-looking claws, and a gaping maw full of teeth. It resembled something gremlin-like.

The moon bee was buzzing, the moon gremlin was making odd noises, all of which was unintelligible. Ed and May stepped back in horror, especially as the creatures came toward them. The moon bee stepped around the bush whereas the moon gremlin hopped over it. Even on its small legs, it made for quite an impressive jump!

“What _are_ those things?!” May cried, holding her brush out like a weapon.

“We gotta go! Run away! Run away!” Ed yelled as he shined his flashlight on the two creatures. Screeches and loud buzzing were heard from the creatures as they cowered from the light, covering their eyes. “Take that, lunar creatures of doom!”

Turning on their heels, Ed and May sprinted off, not even knowing what kind of direction they were going into. Panting and breathing heavily, they avoided the rocks and pitfalls around them, not daring to look back to see if the moon creatures were after them.

After a while, they came to a stop in a fairly open clearing that seemed to be a safe distance from where they’d encountered the moon creatures. They caught their breaths, hunched over and looking at each other with worry.

“What… What were those things, Big Ed?!” May wanted to know, looking around them frantically.

“A giant moon bee and a moon gremlin!” Ed uttered in panic. 

May’s eyes went wider as she frantically looked around too. “Oh no… how are we going to get the moon honey now?! That moon bee was almost as big as you!”

“We better find a hive that’s empty!” Ed gulped, looking around them too. “Come on!”

Very slowly, the two started to creep backwards, just to further ensure that the moon bee and gremlin weren’t chasing after them.

* * *

“What the heck was that?! Why’d they run away?!” Eddy wanted to know.

“Oh dear… It’s just as I had feared! Ed is not only caught up in his completely extemporaneous imagination after an overload of movies, but it seems May has fallen into it too!” Edd fretted, biting his lip.

“How’s that even work?” Eddy griped. He peered out from the trees, findinging nothing, and motioned that they could keep walking. “Whatever, least he ain’t a monster this time.”

“Or trying to obliterate perceived monsters.” Edd added.

Eddy peered in the direction their friends had gone, hesitating. “Who knows where they even went! They went that way, but-”

“It’s possible that they could have veered off course, knowing them.” Edd finished, reaching for the flashlight, but Eddy glared. He sighed and put it away. “I suppose we can try to follow their path nonetheless.”

“Guess it’s better than nothing.” Eddy started to lead the way.

“Why in the world were they covered in mud? I can’t imagine why, yet I also can’t imagine why not with those two.” Edd wondered out loud. “May even had a lily pad on her head! Are they trying to emulate some kind of space armor?”

“That’s gotta be it. Was it just me or did they look soaked?” Eddy shrugged, pushing his way through some bushes as they walked along.

Edd looked around them anxiously, listening for anything. “No, I noticed it as well. I suppose they took a dip in the creek, goodness knows why.”

“Course they did.” Eddy muttered in irritation, “We better find ‘em soon, I wanna get some sleep!”

“And I would like to wash up from all of this filth!” Edd griped, “I’m thankful to have come prepared with a spare set of pajamas, at least.”

“Maybe I’ll just sleep na-crap!” Eddy quickly ducked behind a tree and pulled Edd over next to him.

“What? What is it now?” Edd asked in a whisper.

  
  


“Kankers!” Eddy whispered back.

The boys held their breath and peered around the tree cautiously. Sure enough, Lee and Marie were further up ahead and peering up at one of the trees. Thankfully, they didn’t seem to notice the boys, even if the beam of their flashlight came a little close one time, but it seemed to be coincidental.

“Guess we’ll cover more ground seein’ it from above.” Lee remarked, turning off her flashlight. “I’ll probably find ‘em!”

“Good luck, their camp was empty! Who knows where they went!” Marie complained.

“Yeah yeah, now boost me up on your shoulders Marie!” Lee ordered, “I can’t reach those branches.”

Marie sighed heavily, pocketed her own flashlight, and crouched low. “You better not be heavy or you’ll break my spine!”

“That’ll be an improvement for ya’s!” Lee chortled. 

She got herself onto Marie’s shoulders, sitting on them sturdily while Marie shakily stood back up. Although she was strong, there was clear trembling in her body. Lee carefully gripped a branch that was higher up, but not big enough to climb onto. Once they were a bit sturdier, Lee maneuvered herself to stand on Marie’s shoulders while also holding on to the tree, looking for a spot to climb on.

“We should’ve used Mom’s carjack!” Marie complained. “Jeez, lay off the donuts!”

“Speak for yourself!” Lee shot back. “Hold on, I’m gettin’ somethin’ here.”

Back in the bushes, Edd and Eddy looked at each other, nodded, and decided it was a good time to slip away. Keeping hidden within the bushes and trees, they slowly tiptoed in another direction. All while occasionally glancing back to make sure the Kankers didn’t spot them. They went along with baited breath, as if even just an inhale would alert their adversaries.

Across the clearing, the two Eds then caught sight of Ed and May walking backwards, not too far from where Lee and Marie were. Edd and Eddy looked at each other, then toward Ed and May as the helpless situation sunk in. Whatever they did to get Ed’s attention, of course they would be seen or heard by the other two Kankers. The best they could do was get out of sight (moreso than they already were) and hopefully be able to trail Ed and May from there.

* * *

Ed and May went along, tiptoeing while walking backwards, still looking all around them frantically. There was no telling where the moon creatures could be, or even what they would come across next. They looked at each other, nodded, and kept going. At least until they heard strange noises coming from behind them, to which they froze in place and tensed. It sounded like a mix of grunts and branches snapping, striking their ears loudly.

“W-What was that?” May asked in a whisper.

“I don’t know…” Ed gulped, gripping his flashlight tightly. 

Taking breaths, the two turned around, and located the source of the noise. Standing near one of the gnarled and thorny moon trees was a tall figure. Ed quickly shined his flashlight near the source, making out dark clothing, a white shirt, a tie, and a face. But with no eyes. In fact, the head was partly hidden in shadow, but there were no facial features.

The fall figure, though wobbling, stood there, menacingly. It was even making itself _taller_ and practically looming over them! Ed’s pupils shrank and he felt May grab his hand tightly as he realized just what they were looking at.

“AAAAAAAHHHH!!” Ed screamed loudly and made a move to get away, “ _IT’S THE SLENDER MAN! IT’S THE SLENDER MAN! RETREAT, RETREAT!”_

“OH MY GOD!” May yelled out before tossing her hairbrush toward the Slender Man, striking it on the torso. When a girlish screech sounded from it, that seemed to be the cue to run. “Never mind the retreat, let’s get out of here!”

“Begone from here, Slender Man!” Ed yelled out before he turned and ran with May close beside him.

“How did he get on the moon?!”

“He’s the Slender Man! He can do anything!”

They kept running and running, not daring to look back, all around the rocky terrain. Narrowly missing a few craters and stepping in some puddles of moon water (or whatever moon liquid it was), they came to a large tree and ducked around behind it. Their backs planted against the trunk, they stopped and attempted to catch their breath.

“Did we lose him?” May panted out.

“I hope so!” Ed gulped. He dared peer around the tree, finding no signs of life anywhere. “I don’t see anything!”

“Good! Jeez… what are we going to do now, Big Ed?” May reached for his arm, grabbing it. “The moon’s so dangerous and we gotta get home before it fades away!”

Patting her hand, Ed sighed and looked up to the sickly yellow-green sky. “We came up to get here, so now we have to go down to get home!”

“But aren’t we down already?”

“Nope! Not down enough! What we need is a falling start!”

May frowned in thought, looking off to one side. “Kinda like… in _Moons Over Montana_?”

Ed shook his head, “Close, but nope! Remember in _Space Honeymoon_ when they had to jump to get back to earth? We have to do the same by going up!”

“Up and down and down and up, oh boy!” May looked a little winded. “Think we’ll make it before the moon fades away?”

“We will have to try, Bunny!” Ed took her hand and started to lead the way off.

“I don’t think I want to find out what other moon creatures are around!” May shuddered at the thought. “We better just go!”

* * *

Having trekked around, Edd and Eddy were dismayed to find that they’d ended up circling around back to their camp. They slumped on the ground, feeling defeated, and trying to figure out their next move.

“Great! We went in freaking circles!” Eddy kicked at the ground in frustration.

“Oh goodness, this is insane.” Edd groaned, pinching the bridge of his nose. “They keep running away and allowing their imaginations to run rampant!”

“Well, we gotta do something to lure ‘em in!” Eddy said as he sat down on a nearby rock. “That’s gonna be the only way!”

“Mind if we help?”

The two Eds stiffened and whirled around, finding Lee and Marie standing close by. Both sisters were wearing twin insidious grins, like cats who caught the canary. They took a few steps closer, to which the boys backed away nervously.

Even though the Kankers had let up their affections since the destruction accidents Edd had endured (and also the journey to find Eddy’s brother), they sometimes still pestered them just a bit. Old habits die hard, as the saying went. It wasn’t nearly as intense as before, but it still unnerved the boys to a degree. Except Ed, who was now fully embracing May as a friend.

“Whaddya want, Kankers? This doesn't concern you!” Eddy said, rolling his eyes.

“Uh, FYI, that’s our _sister_ who’s runnin’ amuck.” Lee pointed out in a stern tone. 

“So rude.” Marie muttered, looking toward Edd, “Come on, Double D, we’re all here for the same thing. We just wanna get them back from this crazy trip they’re on.”

Edd gulped and nodded slowly, “Erm, yes… that much is true. We can all agree on that…”

“See?” Marie grinned, going over toward them, and then wrinkling her nose before backing away.“You understand. So c’mon, boys. We oughta work this out _together,_ right?”

“Exactly.” Lee stepped closer, then recoiling, “Jeez Louise, why do ya smell worse than the dump on garbage day?!”

“Seriously!” Marie held her nose and backed away again. “That’s gross!”

“Aw, sorry we didn’t clean up for ya!” Eddy mocked with a smirk. “We should’ve known we were gonna have guests we never asked for!”

“Don’t you get smart with me, short stack!” Lee warned, placing her hands on her hips. “Whatever, that don’t matter now. We gotta figure a way to get your dumb friend and our sister back anyway.”

“Excuse me, but we don’t appreciate you referring to Ed in such a way.” Edd stated, then calmed himself down. “However, I do agree that we should put our heads together and think of a plan that will, as Eddy put it, lure them back here.”

“Glad ya see it our way.” Lee chuckled darkly. “Let’s get a plan goin’, the sun’s comin’ up soon.”

* * *

It was a long climb up the rocky hillside of the moon’s surface, but Ed and May endured. Once they reached the top, they could already see the tops of trees from earth. They peered down, then looked to the horizon to see the sun slowly rising. It was something incredible, to see a portion of the earth from the moon, which was a lot closer than they anticipated, but it made sense. The moon could always be seen in the sky at night, so why wouldn’t it be so close?

“We did it, May!” Ed grinned widely. “Now we’ll be down and home in no time!”

“Wow, you can see everything from up here!” May remarked, then looked to the sun. “Here comes the sun!”

“Get ready to fall!” Ed said in a sing-song voice, taking May’s hand and holding it tight.

May looked at him, biting her lip. “It’s a pretty tall down, are we going to make it?”

“I jumped from the moon before, I can do it again!” Ed assured her. “I wouldn’t want to fall without you, Bunny.”

“Yeah, me neither.” May looked back down again and gulped. Then she paused, furrowed her bow, and looked around, “Um, Ed? Does the moon make a weird noise when it fades?”

“A noise?”

“Yeah, like a crinkly crackly noise!”

“Why do you ask, May?” Ed tilted his head.

Before May could answer, the rocky ledge gave way under their feet rapidly, with the sound getting louder. They looked down, then at each other as the realization slowly set in. Neither had any time to think before gravity kicked in and had them plummeting down toward the earth! They screamed loudly before the sounds echoed off and they clung to each other tightly.

* * *

Down below at the designated camping area, the plan was set in motion. Edd’s air mattress was set up with plastic wrapped all around it and a couple of plates on top. One plate had some buttered toast while the other one had some bacon. All freshly made. 

Set up next to it all was an oscillating fan, pin down, and rotating to send the smells of the toast and bacon into the woods. For an extra incentive, just in case, Lee also put out a trail of jelly beans from a certain marked tree in the forest that lead right back to the camp. 

“If that won’t draw them out like moths to an open flame, I don’t know what will!” Marie remarked.

“It better work, ‘cause I don’t know what else we can do.” Eddy grumbled with a groan.

“Which is why we should always have an alternative plan in the unfortunate event of the initial plan failing!” Edd pointed out. “So I have of course managed to-”

He didn’t see something falling from above, which then landed surprisingly loudly on the air mattress, making the plates clink loudly and fly upward, followed by loud gasps of surprise. Edd squealed loudly and jumped, launching himself onto Eddy and wrapping himself around him like an otter.

“Help! Don’t do this anymore, please! I surrender!” Edd wailed, shaking his head and squeezing his eyes shut.

“Yeesh, don’t be such a scaredy-cat, Sockhead!” Eddy chortled, setting Edd back onto the ground.

Once they turned to look, Ed and May were now on the partially aired out mattress, wide-eyed and slightly disoriented. At least before the offerings were noticed and huge grins broke out on their faces.

“Wow, it worked! We’re home!” May exclaimed happily, taking one of the strips of bacon and munching on it.

“Hooray!” Ed grabbed the plate of buttered toast and took a slice. “Being home from the moon is just as sweet as the honey we didn’t get!”

May looked around, then finally took notice of her sisters. “Oh, hey! What are you guys doing here?”

“You really think we believed that ‘Janet’s having a sleepover’ lie ya told Ma?” Lee asked pointedly.

“Seriously May, you were one step short of having a sign above your head that said ‘I’m Lying’!” Marie added. “Besides, we heard you talking with Ed on the phone!”

“It ain’t fair that you get to camping with our boyfriends and we don’t!” Lee argued.

May blinked a few times and her cheeks went pink, “C’mooon, I knew they wouldn’t let me come if I told you guys!”

“Yeah, well, you still lied!” Marie rolled her eye. “And you threw your hairbrush at us! What the heck were you thinking?!”

“It hit me in the stomach!” Lee stated.

Marie pointed at her head. “And then it fell on my head!”

“I didn’t throw it at you guys, I threw it at the Slender Man!” May protested. “We saw him on the moon!”

“What’s all this talk about the moon?!” Eddy cut in, looking at Ed.

“Oh, that’s because me and May went to the moon, guys!” Ed grinned widely as he finished his toast. “We saw all kinds of scary moon creatures! Don’t worry, we left them all there!”

Edd and Eddy gaped, looked at each other, then back at Ed before facepalming. Lee and Marie looked puzzled and stared at May for an explanation.

“And we saw the Slender Man!” May shuddered.

“There was a little moon gremlin with a really big mouth and a lot of teeth!” Ed opened his mouth wide and showed off his teeth, making his fingers into claws.

“Then there was the giant bouncing moon bees with beady eyes!” May pantomimed it with her hands.

“Bouncing beady-eyed bees…?” Edd muttered incredulously.

“We ain’t men, so I don’t know why ya thought we were this Slender Man whatever!” Lee uttered, pinched the bridge of her nose.

Eddy groaned and shook his head, “You guys weren’t on the moon! You were just acting crazy! Those monsters ya saw were us!”

“You two watched far too many films that your imaginations were overstimulated!” Edd scolded, shaking his head. “Just as you’ve done last Halloween, Ed! Now a series of events has led the both of you to believe the completely impossible idea of going to the moon! There are so many factors that would have led to your imminent deaths! The lack of gravity would not have kept you walking, you would not have been able to _breathe_ or you would have frozen to death! It’s also completely impossible to go to and from the moon without a spaceship! There’s also no such thing as moon monsters! Let alone the Slender Man!”

“How do _you_ know, Double D? Have you been to the moon?” Marie teased, snickering.

“Heh, not bad.” Eddy couldn’t help laughing a bit.

Edd opened his mouth to respond, but instead sighed heavily. He was in no mood to get into that kind of argument. “Never you mind! The point is, _barring_ the monsters, there was no way you two went to the moon. We saw the two of you a couple of occasions, you were here the whole time! You perceived us as monsters and kept running away!”

“And you threw your brush at us! You bet we’re tellin’ Ma what happened!” Lee warned.

Ed and May looked at each other, trying to process all of that. Their little adventure on the moon, all imagination? Neither were sure of what to say next or how to argue their case. But they were home safe now and had some delicious toast and bacon, so it was worth it, right? There was just a whole lot to think about. All they could do was nod a little and look down at their finished plates, having to now face the consequences.

“C’mon May, we’re goin’ home!” Lee grabbed May by her arm and yanked her away from Ed. “Ma’s gonna be hearin’ all about this!”

“Nooo, come on!” May protested and reached for Ed, who reached out to her as well, their fingers brushing.

“Good luck telling her you went to the moon!” Marie took her arm as well and sniffed, “Eww, jeez! Did you take a bath in garbage?!”

“Nope! We landed in moon water!” Ed chimed in.

Marie held her nose with her free hand while Lee did the same thing. “Well, that ‘moon water’ stinks! We’re giving you a bath once we get home, missy!”

“No! I don’t wanna take a bath!” May protested, struggling against her sister’s grips, but to no avail.

“Too bad!” Lee scolded, pulling her along. “You’re gonna have to be clean by the time Ma gets home and we tell her what you did!”

“Bye bye, Bunny...” Ed called after them sadly.

“Bye, Big Ed...” May tried to look back at him, her expression saddened.

The Kankers retreated, Ed looked on with a sad pout, and sighed. Turning back Edd and Eddy, they were both looking at him with reproachful frowns. Much like stern parents staring down the child they just caught making trouble. He stuck out his lower lip even more, his eyes shimmering.

“Guys…?”

“We’re givin’ you a bath.” Eddy said.

“Two of them.” Edd added. “You’re absolutely filthy!”

Ed shook his head frantically, “But soap makes me itchy!”

“Nice try, but I happen to have plenty of packets of hypoallergenic soap.”

“But first you need a serious spray down with the hose! Grab his arm, Double D!”

“Already grabbing!” 

Edd leaped forward and grabbed Edd’s right arm, while Eddy took hold of his left. Of course Ed tried to get away, but two against one wasn’t helping. He was pulled away and dragged off into the trees, going back toward the cul-de-sac.

“I’m sorry you guys, I didn’t mean to!” Ed protested, trying to pull himself free.

“We’re well aware of that, Ed, but it doesn’t change that you’re in need of a bath!” Edd scolded. “My word, what in the world were you two doing covered in mud?”

“Least all we did was try to hide ourselves!” Eddy piped up. 

“Why? Was the Slender Man trying to find you?” Ed asked with worry.

Eddy shook his head. “No, Lumpy! The Kankers were on the loose, course we had to camouflage!”

“For Pete’s sake, there’s no such thing as the Slender Man! It’s merely a story!” Edd rolled his eyes. “I mean really, for as unsettling, disturbing and interesting a concept the Slender Man is, there’s absolutely no logic behind him in the slightest.”

“Like I said, who’s gonna be scared of some tall, skinny guy with no face lookin’ like he’s going to a wedding or funeral?” Eddy scoffed.

As Ed was being dragged off, he caught something at the corner of his eye. Turning his head to look, his blood ran cold the very second he spotted a tall, faceless man wearing a suit with long arms almost reaching the knees. The figure was standing half-hidden by a tree, appearing to be looking in their direction. Of course, having no eyes made it impossible to tell where it could be looking. But Ed felt the sensation coursing through and just tell he was being watched.

Squeezing his eyes shut and shaking his head, Ed looked again and the Slender Man figure was gone. As though no one, or nothing, had even been there in the first place. He swallowed hard and simply let Edd and Eddy lead them along, listening to them rant or argue.

What had he just seen?


End file.
